Tapp was a wild, and I mean wild, and feral cat. You could not get near him to save your life. He was terrified of all people. He lived in the woods. He didn’t just avoid all contact with people, he frantically, desperately, madly freaked out if he thought a person was headed near him.
This was a constant problem for Tapp, because he was in love with our cat, Sophie.
Tapp came to our house to see Sophie every night. They slept together on the table on our back deck. He was her Romeo. She was his Juliet.
Romeo, I mean Tapp, braved the chance that we may step out onto our deck at any moment and scare him half-way to China just so he could see his beloved.
One afternoon Tapp got courage. Or maybe his love got the best of him. He came to our house in broad daylight.
Which was something that never happened.
The back porch after Tapp was removed
Someone (perhaps one of my 4 offspring) left the screened-in porch door cracked. So, Tapp ended up on the back porch with no idea how he got in or how to get out.
When we got home there was a terrified, frantic, panic-stricken, feral cat on our back porch. Once he caught sight of us he climbed one of the screen walls until he couldn’t climb any higher. He was above our back porch near the ceiling clinging to my screen wall as far away from us as he could get.
We propped both porch doors open so he could escape to freedom. We called. We shoo’ed. We begged. Tapp remained on my porch never touching the ground, jumping from screen to screen as fast as his claws would carry him.
Finally, with the help of a broom, we managed to show Tapp the pathway to freedom.
This story reminds me of a verse in the bible:
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Just like I stood with the door wide open trying to show that cat the path to freedom, God is even more loving and patient with us. He stands with his arms wide open waiting for us to walk through the door to freedom.
I am thankful every day.
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XO,
Candi
